Why people analytics needs people science

People analytics is an essential capability that belongs in every organization’s tech stack. It empowers HR teams and people leaders to surface insights from the wealth of data that their business sits on so they can make more informed decisions, foster collaboration, and drive meaningful change.

At least, that’s the dream.

The reality is that many people analytics platforms can’t serve the needs of users beyond the HR team. And even then, it’s not always clear what the data is trying to tell them or how to turn that insight into the right action.

To truly democratize people-data-driven decision-making beyond HR and outwards to the leaders and decision-makers responsible for making change happen, people analytics needs a foundation grounded in people science.

Why people science matters

People science examines how people think, feel, behave, learn, connect, and thrive in today’s world of work. It combines organizational psychology, HR and business practice, and design- and systems-thinking to scale the very technical into experiences and insights that anyone can use to enable a better world of work.

And business leaders need this guidance more than ever. We’re making more unique decisions than ever before. Think of the state of the world today: hybrid workforces, tense geopolitical situations, fluctuating market changes…and navigating all of that on top of making daily team performance decisions.

While people analytics technology has made great strides, and the appetite for people data has never been higher, systems as they exist today aren’t helping enough with the decisions today’s leaders need to make.

In 2023, RedThread Research found that only 41% of people managers and just 6% of employees used people analytics to a significant or very great extent.

While having accessible data and analytics is great, decision paralysis is a real thing. Having too much information or too many options can make it impossible for the average HR pro, people manager, or business leader to determine the next best action to take.

How people leaders can make better decisions

One key element missing from most people analytics solutions is embedding people science into the back-end analysis, insights, user experience, and recommendations.

With a people analytics platform grounded in people science, it’s not just about serving up the data. It’s about combining unique employee data and experiences with peer-reviewed literature and field experience to craft insights and recommendations that acknowledge the complexity of contemporary workplaces.

When this is done well, every leader feels confident that they can effectively use a people analytics platform on their own. A great platform provides real-time analytics, has a great user interface, and makes leaders feel like they have a little People Scientist on their shoulders, pointing out what to look at and recommending the best, scientifically proven next step.

This is exactly what Culture Amp’s People Analytics is designed to do. HR and business leaders are able to collect, unify, and organize their data in a single platform, and then make informed decisions with compelling visualizations and data stories that illustrate business-critical people insights across the employee lifecycle.

“Getting more than employee engagement and experience data into the hands of HR leaders and managers should help them make better decisions,” says Stacia Garr, Co-Founder and Principal Analyst at RedThread Research. “Culture Amp has historically put great emphasis on getting its technology into the hands of managers. Their new people analytics offering will enable those managers to get access to more useful insights.”

Data-driven decisions made with people science

Let’s look at an example. Without the insights provided by people science, a manager might see a data point that shows their team’s lowest scoring survey item is satisfaction with compensation. Without additional context, the leader’s reaction is most likely to assume that compensation is too low and salaries need to be increased.

As a result, perhaps they share with their team that they are concerned and need to investigate this. The manager might then connect with their compensation team or escalate to their leader if they have an issue. Not only is there more to do in order to correct the situation, but there could also be significant cost implications, and employees now have an expectation that they have a real problem.

With people analytics built on a foundation of people science, leaders don’t just get data – they get the information they need to know how to most effectively improve team performance and engagement.

What insights with people science look like

With Culture Amp’s People Analytics, managers get more meaningful insights that take into account statistical patterns of employee sentiment and lived experiences supporting employee engagement.

Using the compensation satisfaction example above, a manager using Culture Amp would also see an insight accompanying the low score along the lines of:

“While your lowest scoring item is satisfaction with compensation, this item is not strongly correlated with their engagement, meaning that acting on it will likely not positively impact their commitment, motivation, or effort. Additionally, this is a lower scoring item in your benchmark as well given the low likelihood for employees to self-report satisfaction with pay.

The best way to address this is by sharing with your team that, while this score is low, it is on par with the benchmark and a low driver of engagement. Then remind them of your compensation strategy, how decisions are made, and the best ways to increase their earnings if that is important to them.”

When the platform provides guidance like this, it also provides science-backed research on whether acting on that insight will produce the right result or if another focus may be more effective. In our example, this helps the manager have more accurate conversations, provide context to their people, and concentrate their efforts on factors that will have a bigger impact on engagement and performance.

Culture Amp’s People Analytics represents a huge shift in the way businesses make decisions. It’s being driven by technology that helps you unlock the full potential of your people – and all your business data – to drive higher performance for your organization.

It’s time to scale people management decisions

When HR technology serves the needs of everyone in the business at scale, organizations will see a real return on investment.

People analytics fueled by people science equips all organization leaders and managers with the decision intelligence they need to turn people and culture insights directly into business results.

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